The subject of human trafficking is
misunderstood and misrepresented
continually. On one hand, it can be among
the worst of crimes; on the other, it is
grossly over-represented by the
self-promoting and the self-serving. We’ll
begin our examination by removing the hype;
then we will focus on with the real
tragedies.

Essentially, there are two types of human
trafficking:

Irregular migration.

Kidnapping and slavery.

Kidnapping and slavery are what most of us
think of as human trafficking: People being
forced into labour, and often into sex work.
It is, obviously, horrific. This does not,
however, happen anywhere near as often as
screaming headlines, NGOs, government
departments and other groups claim. Common
estimates place the number of women forced
into the sex industry in Europe at 500,000,
which is a gross over-estimate. Among other
things, it presumes that nearly all sex
workers in Europe are slaves. This is
plainly false.

There is, of course, a question as to why so
many organizations throw around numbers that
they must know are false. Theories that run
from simply monetary gain (often in the form
of grants) to deep cultural biases and
national needs. It is certainly a great
media story and the publicity works well for
groups that oppose the legalization of
prostitution and to increase aid to Eastern
Europe. But, in any case, the flamboyant
headline numbers are radically inflated.

THE GREY MARKET

The vast majority of what is called “human
trafficking” is simply irregular
immigration. That is, people moving across
borders in ways that are not controlled by
governments. This is a business that has
been around since states put up their first
border controls and it shows no sign of
abating. Popular reaction to border-crossing
schemes reveals a strange schizophrenia:
They are reviled at most times, but
occasionally, such as during World War Two,
they are seen as noble and brave.

Irregular migration can be handled almost as
normal business, with people paying for
passage through a border. In other cases,
there are risks involved. Occasionally,
customers are abandoned to die. This is not
good for business, however, so it tends to
be uncommon. A poor man who happens to have
knowledge of a border area can make many
times his normal wage by sneaking people
over a border. This occurs in all parts of
the world, and the customers are primarily
people from very poor places who want to go
west to make money.

The stronger national immigration laws
become, the less likely that a poor man or
woman has any chance of migrating legally.
They are, in many ways, almost fully
excluded from this process. This creates a
black market in moving people across
borders. A desperately poor man or woman in
Russia or India or Mexico or Africa will
violate border control laws whenever the
first opportunity arises. After all, the
alternative is horrific and all they really
want is to work and to live quietly. In most
cases, they have no criminal intent
whatsoever.

THE (VERY) DARK SIDE

While the grey market of irregular
migrations comprise the majority of what is
advertised human trafficking, a darker side
of human trafficking exists, and it is very
dark indeed.

To get an overview of this problem, we
contacted Rick Chappelle of PRC Associates,
a London-based risk management firm.
Chappelle has worked on numerous human
trafficking cases over the years.

We asked Chappelle about the cases he’s
worked that involved actual kidnapping
and/or slavery. He says that most victims
are drawn to the riches of the West by local
advertisements for overseas work as
hostesses, dancers, translators,
housekeepers and so on. Often a
crime syndicate
will fund the trip, thereby ensuring the
victim is never out of debt to them. This
can also begin at the domestic level, with
children being sold by an impoverished
family. The majority of these victims will
eventually be involved in some sort of sex
work. Violence may or may not be used upon
these victims. In many cases, deceit,
psychological manipulation and threats are a
potent enough combination to hold them in
obedience.

Particularly sad is the fact that 90% of
these victims will never return home, for
fear of being social outcasts; also for fear
of the same thing happening to them a second
time. These people tend to come from very
poor places (Algeria,
the Balkans, Russia,
China,
Middle Eastern countries, India,
Pakistan,
Eastern Europe, Africa) where family shaming
may also be a dominant fear.

Chappelle explains that while nightclubs
controlled by organized
crime syndicates
have been the usual destination for such
victims, there is a growing trend
toward ordinary houses and apartments being
used as brothels.

A
particularly horrifying version of this
crime is what Chappelle calls “reverse
trafficking,” which involves
middle-easterners paying to kidnap “immoral”
female family members in the west, then
trafficking them back to their home
countries, where honour killings are likely
to follow.

THE MECHANICS

Human traffic into
Europe is currently via Malaga (Spain)
or Frankfurt,
either by air or by road, usually inside of
containers. The gangs who organize this
passage will hold their victims’ passports
and travel documents. Bribery is rife at
many national borders, but where necessary,
the victims (who are not yet aware they are
victims) are cleaned up and escorted to
departure point, then met by other handlers
at the arrival point on the other side of a
border. Then the cycle is repeated until the
destination is reached.

The route into England runs From Europe into
Dublin,
where organized crime aligned with Loyalist
paramilitaries takes over. Then from Dublin
into Northern Ireland, into
Scotland,
and continuing to
Manchester, Leeds,
Birmingham,
and London.
Opportunities for escape are remote.

SOLVING THE PROBLEM

First of all, we must understand that this
problem will never go away so long as
barriers to migration exist. So long as they
do, many desperate people will have no path
to betterment than through people or groups
that are in some way criminal. This is easy
to ignore, since it is considered to be
unchangeable.

Secondly, it must be understood that the
paths of human traffic will change as
required. If governments focus resources on
a particular city or border, the traffickers
will simply move on to a less dangerous
place. They can adapt almost immediately.

Furthermore, centrally ordered actions are
far more likely to catch grey market
migrants than true criminals. There are many
more of these, and once a few headlines
appear saying that the police have arrest a
dozen human traffickers, people and
organizations rest easy and go back to their
normal routines. In most cases these will
not be the criminal gangs, but people
involved with bringing in workers who will
be free once they arrive. Most of these
operations function on a very small scale.
Some are vile criminals to be sure, but most
operate almost like travel agents.

In order to break up the truly horrific
operations, Chappelle says that intelligence
gathering is required. It can be done, and
the operators at PRC Associates have in fact
done it, but it requires close target
reconnaissance end to end, and sometimes
infiltration. A small team is required;
these must be carefully selected operators
who will be not be diverted by the horrors
they see along the route.

“This is the worst of crimes,” says
Chappelle, “and it’s tragic that more isn’t
being done.”

One has to wonder how much time and money is
currently being wasted on hype, and how many
lives are being needlessly destroyed because
of it.